MASTERPIECEPAINTINGaWithsocialdataThe SocialIntelligence Labthesilab2019 State of Social Intelligence SurveyWelcome to the 2019 State of Social Intelligence Study. Between February and April 2019 we worked with partners including Talkwalker, Demographics Pro, Audiense, Brandwatch, DigitalMR and the Social Media Research Association to reach out to social data professionals across the globe. We wanted to find out more about their current social data analysis practices, structures, integrations, challenges, and their opinion on the future of the social intelligence industry.267 social data analysis professionals responded to our survey, and after removing those who work with social data analysis technologies, we analysed 204 responses. Were using this data to help companies at all levels of social data analysis maturity to successfully transform and get more measurable brand value from social data. We hope you find it valuable.1“Creativity is contagious. Pass it on”Albert EinsteinDr. Jillian Ney and her team have produced a highly relevant and very interesting study. Their work highlights the growing importance of our discipline. Any organisation, which is serious about data- and client-centricity and strives to gain true understanding of its customers or stakeholders, needs to look beyond mere numbers and traditional marketing research for insights. Unstructured data - harvested from blogs, forums, reviews and social media - is a rich source for studying human interaction and behaviour. As a result, Social Intelligence is able to surface deep insights, derived from contextual and cultural understanding. Therefore, I recommend any marketing or communication professional to take a closer look at the 2019 State of Social Intelligence study. As the title suggests: Its a masterpiece.Nico-Alexander JahnEVP Social IntelligencePublicis GroupeBE Contagious2Its time to grow. together. Welcome to the first edition of The State of Social Intelligence findings report.The results provide a snapshot of the current state of the industry. From industry confidence, to social data analysis practices, structures, challenges, successes, and plans for the future.The dependent variable in success? The people. You. So, the results of the very first State of Social Intelligence are a celebration of you. The work that you do and the subjective nature of using social data to paint a picture of your customers.Yes, there are technical elements and science involved in social data analysis. But the difference between success and failure is the subjective ability to make sense of the data and knowing how to action these insights in business decisions. This is only achievable with human interpretation - by you.Dr Jillian NeyFounderThe Social Intelligence Lab3But this years survey shows that people are not adequately supported in their roles. Theres not enough education, forum for conversation, learning and best practice. The industry has largely been developed by technology solutions and practitioners forming communities around their chosen providers creating a fragmented industry. After a turbulent eighteen months for social intelligence, now is the time to bring the focus to creating a unified discipline with its own guidelines, ethics and practices.This is why I created The Social Intelligence Lab. To connect the fragmented industry, to openly discuss our challenges and find solutions to our problems together. The State of Social Intelligence is one of many initiatives we are launching this year to support you in your role and to better develop the industry. I hope that you will join us on this journey. To put those exploring and pioneering on the map, and inspire those who might not have otherwise considered starting their own social intelligence journey.The future is bright for social intelligence, and I am really excited to share the results of our study with you. The State of Social Intelligence is a community effort, it would not be possible without our commentary providers, partners, advertisers, and most importantly the people and organisations who responded to the survey.Thank you to everyone involved in making this study happen. To our readers, I hope you enjoy peeking behind the curtain of how other organisations are developing their social intelligence capabilities and find inspiration in their approach.Dr Jillian NeyFounderThe Social Intelligence LabThe Social Intelligence Lab is my vision for connecting the global social intelligence community. I want to give everyone the opportunity to connect with other people who analyse social data. 4The Subconscious Art of Social IntelligenceGreat art is more than great technique. Great art shares a unique perspective of human existence or philosophy. We dont always understand artistic interpretation. But when we do, we marvel at its beauty and it makes us feel like were part of something larger. Social intelligence has a lot in common with art.In a world where customer centricity is everyones goal, social intelligence can offer a glimpse into society from a new perspective. A new perspective that can give you invaluable insights into how to connect with their hearts and minds. But getting human insights from social data is a messy process. Unsurprisingly, there is an incredible amount of data. New technologies can help non-technical people gather and sort through the data, but social data itself is not an insight - its an input.Like artistic vision, insights sit in the subconscious space of the mind. They are a wonderful balance between data, context and intuition - and they are fundamentally human. 5SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE IS A MOVEMENT MISUNDERSTOODSocial media and digital technologies have revolutionised human communication. This public digital discourse offers an unrivalled insight into modern behaviour. The power to quantify digital behaviour and discover the hidden meaning in mass online conversations is made possible with social intelligence. But like many new movements, it has been considered avant-garde. By its nature, social intelligence requires an unconventional way of working. And when something is new, it doesnt always produce the right results quickly. But little wins can bring great momentum. Learning from the successes (and struggles) of the brands around you can help move social intelligence from being perceived as unconventional to democratised across your organisation.6If your journey into social intelligence has been bumpy, youre not alone. This year, over half of companies say that their social intelligence activities are not clearly understood by senior leaders. 52% say that senior leaders do not clearly understand their objectives or outputs. 7“We have a real Lost in Translation problem at the moment with social data. The potential is there to help senior stakeholders make better decisions, but this is too often frustrated by a failure to deliver clear insight”.Jeremy HollowFounder and MDListen + Learn Research8Social data analysis has been a focus of activity for many business units and disciplines. Its prevalence has even created a new type of organisation - those solely specialising in the analysis of social data. Across all areas of work, the lack of leadership understanding affected the perception and use of social data across the organisation.Respondents professional background and work discipline8%PR30%Marketing11%Specialist Social Intelligence21%Research30%Other